Chapter 20
When Max doesn't come to school on tuesday, and then wednesday, Fang starts to worry. Iggy is just as bouncy as usual, and he and Ella talk loudly behind him about her technique for memorizing all the bones of the face for anatomy. Angel next to him casts him blank glances, and tugs on his sleeve when the noise of the lunchroom gets loud.
"She's okay, Fang. Just not feeling so well." Angel says softly, and he looks down at her, frowning. She's like a tiny mindreader, the way she can read people like open books.
"Did she talk to you?" He asks, getting his tray and falling into line behind Nudge, who's chattering excitedly with another girl. Angel nods, and moves a chicken sandwich onto her tray.
"Yeah. I think she's finally figuring out the whole texting thing." Angel remarks with a smirk, and Fang grabs a sub and follows after her.
"Is she sick?" He asks, paying for his food and following her to their table. She looks back at him and smiles knowingly.
"I would assume so. She hasn't missed any school this year except for now." She tells him, and Iggy slides into the seat next to him, dumping a few apple slices onto Fang's tray. Ella jambs her toe into the ground, eyeing Iggy and the rest of them before saying goodbye and moving across the lunchroom to sit by Lissa and Brigid, who welcome her with squeals.
"I don't get that girl, but I can't be mad at her." Iggy grumbles to Fang, ripping his grilled cheese in half. Fang elbows Iggy, and gives him a sly sideways glance. The rest of lunch passes, and Fang checks his phone on the way to english. Should he text Max and see if she's doing okay? Should he go to her house after school and see how she's doing? Would bringing soup be going overboard?
Maya slams her books down on the desk next to Fang, and he looks up at her, startled. He rolls his eyes and looks away when she opens her mouth to talk.
"Haven't talked to you in a while." Maya starts, and Fang watches her out of the corner of his eye.
"Been busy." He tells her with a snipped tone, and she slides into her chair. He types out a quick message to Max and sends it. The rest of Mayas friends make their way into the room, followed by several other students and the noise in the room gets noisy.
"Yeah, everyone knows that." Maya spits, and Fang turns his head to get a better look at her. Her eye is yellowing around the edges where Max punched her, and she concealed the bruise with makeup. Fang smirks and she gives him a questioning glance.
"Yellow is a nice color on you. Blue would be better though." He remarks, and Mayas jaw drops open and a girl on the other side of Maya gives him a disbelieving stare.
"Did you just imply that I look good bruised?" She asks, her voice having risen an octave. He can't help but smirk and look down when his phone buzzes in his pocket. Max responded.
"What? No." He counters sarcastically, and Maya stands, pushing her chair back with a scrape. The kids in the room lower their voices and watch Maya, but keep going with their conversations, wanting to see the scene act out.
"You did! God, you're unbelievable!" She growls, and he can't help but let out a small laugh and shake his head. If he just keeps quiet and doesn't say anything, she'll humiliate herself.
"Okay..." He mutters, and Maya lets out a huff of air, tossing her hair over her shoulder.
"And I have every right to care! You're lowkey fucking my sister, and now you're saying I look bad? You asshole!" She screams and drops her fist into the desk, and now everyone in the room is silent and watching. Fang slowly rises from his chair, and stands over Maya. He would have been okay with her yelling at him if she hadn't brought Max into this. She smirks haughtily at him, and he just stares down at her. She said that because it wasn't true, this was her petty way of tarnishing Max's already shaky reputation at the school. The teacher walks into the room and the kids start moving towards their desks, but neither Fang or Maya move. Fang reaches down and picks up his backpack, swinging it over his shoulder and gathering his books on the desk.
"Where are you going?" Maya asks, exasperated, but Fang doesn't even glance at her, he just keeps moving, and makes to leave past her when she grabs his arm.
"Nick, don't you dare just..." Fang rips his sleeve out of her fingers.
"You're completely vile." He mutters, and leaves the room, leaving her and her friends speechless. Fang wanders down the halls to the office before he decides to leave. Sticking around here would just add to the drama, as Maya would without a doubt seek him out between classes for some kind of confrontation.
"I'm sick." He deadpans to the woman in the office as he signs himself out, and she stands to look at where he's writing his name on the sheet and frowns.
"Did you check with the nurse, Nickolas? You can't leave without a pass." She says, but he drops the pen and smiles at her bitterly before he leaves through the front doors of the school, making his way down to where his car is parked. It's freezing out, and it should start snowing soon, but he still refuses to bring his coat to school. He whips his phone out of his pocket and dials Max's number.
"Hello?" She picks up on the third ring, and he grins.
"Meet me at Wilsons. I'll buy you coffee."
"Fang? Wait...I don't even drink coffee..."
"Okay. I'll see you there." He chirps, and hangs up on her before she can object to him. He doesn't really think she's sick, she just doesn't want to go to school, and he doesn't really blame her. he wouldn't go either if he had a sibling breathing down his neck all the time like she did. He throws his backpack into the backseat and fires the engine in the cold and waits for the car to warm up before he backs out and leaves the parking lot.
Five minutes later, he's parked in front of the Wilsons and out of his car. Max is sipping tea at a tall chair by the window and she looks up when he pushes through the front door.
"You know, you could at least ask me if there's anywhere I want to go." Max grumbles, and he can't help but smile as he sits in the chair across from her.
"Aren't you supposed to be in school anyway?" She asks, and he fishes his wallet out of his pocket.
"Yeah. But you weren't there so it wasn't any fun." Max snorts, but shuts up when he gives her a confused glance. He's totally serious, and she can't take him seriously.
"I'll be right back." He mutters, slightly dejected, and gets up to order a drink. When he returns, Max is drumming her fingers nervously on the table.
"Fang."
"Yeah?"
"Are you going to tell me why you actually left school?" Max asks, and Fang peers over at his phone when it buzzes, but he ignores it.
"Are you going to tell me why you're not even going to school?" Fang asks, and Max sighs and takes a sip of her tea.
"All monday evening after I woke up, I couldn't move. I didn't like to think about what my sister was planning for me outside that door." Max mumbles, and a middle aged server brings fang his coffee in a white paper cup.
"Dylan texted me what Maya said while I was walking over here. It's spreading all over the school like wildfire." Max tells him with a hushed tone, and his insides are frozen. One, because Dylan was talking to her, and two because Maya was possibly spreading that he was hooking up with Max, which he wasn't.
"You shouldn't listen to him." Fang says, and Max smiles venomously and takes a gulp of her tea.
"And who should I listen too?" She hisses, and Fangs fingers tighten into a fist.
"We could tell them we're dating." He suggests, and she just stares at him blankly. Tell Maya she's dating him? Does Fang really want her to get murdered in her sleep? But he could be onto something, they pretend to date for a few weeks maybe, and she'll dump him and pretend to be heartbroken.
"Yeah, this is why I don't listen to you." She says instead. It's easier than agreeing after all, and with Fang, it's better to squeeze as much information out of the guy as possible.
"You should listen to me. But I mean...if it means you won't be able to make googly eyes at Dylan what's the point of getting your bloodthirsty sister off your back?" He snarks venomously, taking a drink of his coffee and glaring at her over the rim of the cup. She can't even say anything, she doesn't want to say that he's wrong, because that would be wrong...
"Shut up!" She hisses, and he just laughs softly and shakes his head. Her face is burning, he's right, but she won't admit that.
"Oh, sorry I forgot I was conversing with a child." He says calmly, and stands to gether his things. His ego is stunned and he's hurt. Max is still continuing to fawn over Dylan in a way that makes him feel physically sick. Why did he even say that in the first place? If he didn't bring up Dylan, they might have had a good talk and he would be able to drive her home and make sure she get's through her front door okay.
"Fang, hold on." Max tries, getting out of her chair and standing awkwardly, unsure about what to do with herself.
"Make sure you change the dressing on your arm." He tells her calmly, and her insides freeze again. She watches with wide eyes as he turns and leaves Wilsons the same way he came, his cup in his hand. The slices on her arm are suddenly very sore, and she puts her hand over them and presses down on them gently.
She waits for him to pull away from his parking spot at the front of the shop to slam her fist to hard into the tall table that her unfinished cup of tea rocks and tips off the edge of the table. It shatters on the floor behind her, and she leaves, the woman behind the counter screaming for her to wait. Max yanks her coat on over her shoulders and speedwalks down the sidewalk towards her house.
"Stupid!" She slaps her hand against her thigh. Fang was just trying to help her, offering her a way out, and she just shrugged him off.
'No. Remember how he used to treat you? Like you were worthless.' Her subconscious reminds her, pulling up the thought of Dylan, who never did anything to her. But he didn't even see her. Max would look up and see Fangs eyes on her, but Dylans used to pass through her like she was a ghost.
'He may have been cruel, but he acknowledged you. That has to count for something.'